Whisper
May 28th, 2008, 03:01 PM
KATHMANDU: Nepal on Wednesday became a Federal Democratic Republic, ending the 240-year monarchy.
The newly elected 575-member Constituent Assembly (CA) unanimously passed a proposal tabled by Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and gave the erstwhile King Gyanendra 15 days to vacate the Narayanhiti Royal Palace, which will soon be turned into a public museum.
The CA will now amend the Constitution and elect a President, along with a new Prime Minister. The political parties are yet to agree on the process to elect the President.
According to the agreement reached among the parties, the President will be the patron of the Constitution and the supreme commander of the army. He will also have the authority to impose emergency rule on the recommendation of the Cabinet.
Though the candidates for President and Prime Minister have not been named, it is almost a foregone conclusion that Maoists will get premiership and the Nepali Congress, President.
The other two largest parties — Communist Party of Nepal (UML) and Madhesi People’s Rights Forum — will bag the posts of CA chairman and Vice-President.
Though the Shah dynasty ruled unified Nepal for the last 240 years, it had been in the throne of the Gorkha kingdom since 1559. King Prithivi Narayan Shah initiated the unification drive in 1742 and conquered the Kathmandu Valley in 1768.
The story of the dynasty is a saga of triumph and tragedy. In the years after the unification of the kingdom, which was fragmented into more than 60 tiny principalities, the dynasty was marred by internal feuds, betrayals and killings.
The people’s faith in monarchy was shattered after the June 1, 2001 Royal Palace massacre that killed King Birendra and his entire family. However, it was King Gyanendra’s seizure of power on February 1, 2005 that triggered a chain of events, culminating in the declaration of the republic.
The People’s Movement in April 2006, jointly declared by the mainstream parties and the Maoists, who had waged a decade-long insurgency, forced King Gyanedra to give power back to people.
Prerana Marasini reports: The CA meet was scheduled for 11 in the morning and celebrations erupted to welcome the republic. But as the meeting did not take place till 8 p.m., the crowd outside the Birendra International Convention Centre, where the meeting was supposed to take place, seemed agitated and hurled stones towards the building.
Police fired teargas to control the crowd; a policeman and a civilian were injured. Security has been stepped up in the city since morning.
The newly elected 575-member Constituent Assembly (CA) unanimously passed a proposal tabled by Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and gave the erstwhile King Gyanendra 15 days to vacate the Narayanhiti Royal Palace, which will soon be turned into a public museum.
The CA will now amend the Constitution and elect a President, along with a new Prime Minister. The political parties are yet to agree on the process to elect the President.
According to the agreement reached among the parties, the President will be the patron of the Constitution and the supreme commander of the army. He will also have the authority to impose emergency rule on the recommendation of the Cabinet.
Though the candidates for President and Prime Minister have not been named, it is almost a foregone conclusion that Maoists will get premiership and the Nepali Congress, President.
The other two largest parties — Communist Party of Nepal (UML) and Madhesi People’s Rights Forum — will bag the posts of CA chairman and Vice-President.
Though the Shah dynasty ruled unified Nepal for the last 240 years, it had been in the throne of the Gorkha kingdom since 1559. King Prithivi Narayan Shah initiated the unification drive in 1742 and conquered the Kathmandu Valley in 1768.
The story of the dynasty is a saga of triumph and tragedy. In the years after the unification of the kingdom, which was fragmented into more than 60 tiny principalities, the dynasty was marred by internal feuds, betrayals and killings.
The people’s faith in monarchy was shattered after the June 1, 2001 Royal Palace massacre that killed King Birendra and his entire family. However, it was King Gyanendra’s seizure of power on February 1, 2005 that triggered a chain of events, culminating in the declaration of the republic.
The People’s Movement in April 2006, jointly declared by the mainstream parties and the Maoists, who had waged a decade-long insurgency, forced King Gyanedra to give power back to people.
Prerana Marasini reports: The CA meet was scheduled for 11 in the morning and celebrations erupted to welcome the republic. But as the meeting did not take place till 8 p.m., the crowd outside the Birendra International Convention Centre, where the meeting was supposed to take place, seemed agitated and hurled stones towards the building.
Police fired teargas to control the crowd; a policeman and a civilian were injured. Security has been stepped up in the city since morning.